keep calm and play soul music
So I'm sure everyone heard the story about how I decided to learn Gaelic when I was 15, just for lulz, not even being part of the Celtic fandom, for lack of a better term, and only a few years after that bagpipes conquered my earwaves. Anyway, I love Ireland. I love Irish music. I have an unhealthy dose of enthusiasm for St Patrick's day. To honour it I decided to do not an Irish music mixtape (though I have an album titled The Rough Guide to Irish Folk which is awesome seventeen times over), but rather, a mix of Soul Music. Yes, as per Sir Terry.
It was sad music. But it waved the sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could but you were still alive.
That's how I always understood it, anyway. So here's 17 songs to wave in the universe's face or just sing very loudly and with feeling. Have a good, loud, green St Patrick's day!
BAD OLD MAN ♧ Babybird
now he's 35, and half alive
he's an open mouth in a bee hive
he's gonna smile and be happy
HERETICS ♧ Andrew Bird
and then I hear you say
thank god it's fatal
not shy, not shy of fatal
SWEETEST GOODBYE ♧ Maroon 5
how does it feel to know
you never have to be alone
when you get home
CALL ME ♧ Shinedown
wrap me in a bolt of lightning
send me on my way still smiling
maybe that's the way I should go
OH SO INSISTENT ♧ Andrew Bird
{instrumental}
VOIS SUR TON CHEMIN ♧ Petits Chanteurs de St. Marc
sens au coeur de la nuit
l'onde d'espoir
ardeur de la vie , sentier de gloire*
SOULMATES (SLEEPING WITH GHOSTS LIVE) ♧ Placebo
this one world vision turns us into compromise
damn their killing, damn their lies
soulmate, dry your eyes, soulmates never die
CHERRY ♧ Ratatat
{instrumental}
BISTRA VODA ♧ Regina
ukradi malo sunca za nas
nemaš sutra, nemaš danas
lako je**
END OF THE MOVIE ♧ Cake
they'll tar you and drag you through town
but you still don't like to leave
before the end of the movie
ROAD TO JOY ♧ Bright Eyes
the sun came up with no conclusion
this city's cemetery's humming
I'm wide-awake, it's morning
BLACK CAB ♧ Jens Lekman
they might be psycho killers
but tonight I really don't care
so I say turn up the music
take me home or take me anywhere
REWIND ♧ Poets of the Fall
rewind, I wanna go it again
light up the dark, halo on the side
so I'll know it will not leave me wanting
DEATH OF A MARTIAN ♧ Red Hot Chili Peppers
let's bow our head and let the trumpets blow
our girl is gone, God bless her little soul
lots of love and keep it coming
making somethig out of nothing
FLOAT ♧ Flogging Molly
no matter where I put my head
I'll wake up feeling sound again
breathe, it's all you can
MY HEART IS A DRUMMER ♧ Allo Darlin'
do I have to say I'm sorry for my happiness?
you see it's like loving 'Graceland'
it's not allowed to be but we know it's everybody's favourite
deep down in the place where music makes you happiest
RUNNING TO PARADISE ♧ Hellawes
a poor life, do what he can,
and though he keep a dog and a gun,
a serving-maid and a serving-man:
and there the king is but as the beggar***
*Translation: In the depth of night/ feel the surge of hope/ the fire of life, the path of glory**Translation: Steal a bit of sun for us/ there’s no tomorrow, no today/ it’s easy. Though I must admit my favourite line from that song is "Rodi me u majsku zoru / Give me birth on at dawn in May" :D
***Full text by W.B. Yeats can be found here.
ETA: If you're confused as to how a St Patrick's mix ended up having French, Serbian and Swedish music and one of the two Irish songs is sung by a Russian folk singer, don't be. It is ~written.
It was sad music. But it waved the sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could but you were still alive.
That's how I always understood it, anyway. So here's 17 songs to wave in the universe's face or just sing very loudly and with feeling. Have a good, loud, green St Patrick's day!
BAD OLD MAN ♧ Babybird
now he's 35, and half alive
he's an open mouth in a bee hive
he's gonna smile and be happy
HERETICS ♧ Andrew Bird
and then I hear you say
thank god it's fatal
not shy, not shy of fatal
SWEETEST GOODBYE ♧ Maroon 5
how does it feel to know
you never have to be alone
when you get home
CALL ME ♧ Shinedown
wrap me in a bolt of lightning
send me on my way still smiling
maybe that's the way I should go
OH SO INSISTENT ♧ Andrew Bird
{instrumental}
VOIS SUR TON CHEMIN ♧ Petits Chanteurs de St. Marc
sens au coeur de la nuit
l'onde d'espoir
ardeur de la vie , sentier de gloire*
SOULMATES (SLEEPING WITH GHOSTS LIVE) ♧ Placebo
this one world vision turns us into compromise
damn their killing, damn their lies
soulmate, dry your eyes, soulmates never die
CHERRY ♧ Ratatat
{instrumental}
BISTRA VODA ♧ Regina
ukradi malo sunca za nas
nemaš sutra, nemaš danas
lako je**
END OF THE MOVIE ♧ Cake
they'll tar you and drag you through town
but you still don't like to leave
before the end of the movie
ROAD TO JOY ♧ Bright Eyes
the sun came up with no conclusion
this city's cemetery's humming
I'm wide-awake, it's morning
BLACK CAB ♧ Jens Lekman
they might be psycho killers
but tonight I really don't care
so I say turn up the music
take me home or take me anywhere
REWIND ♧ Poets of the Fall
rewind, I wanna go it again
light up the dark, halo on the side
so I'll know it will not leave me wanting
DEATH OF A MARTIAN ♧ Red Hot Chili Peppers
let's bow our head and let the trumpets blow
our girl is gone, God bless her little soul
lots of love and keep it coming
making somethig out of nothing
FLOAT ♧ Flogging Molly
no matter where I put my head
I'll wake up feeling sound again
breathe, it's all you can
MY HEART IS A DRUMMER ♧ Allo Darlin'
do I have to say I'm sorry for my happiness?
you see it's like loving 'Graceland'
it's not allowed to be but we know it's everybody's favourite
deep down in the place where music makes you happiest
RUNNING TO PARADISE ♧ Hellawes
a poor life, do what he can,
and though he keep a dog and a gun,
a serving-maid and a serving-man:
and there the king is but as the beggar***
*Translation: In the depth of night/ feel the surge of hope/ the fire of life, the path of glory**Translation: Steal a bit of sun for us/ there’s no tomorrow, no today/ it’s easy. Though I must admit my favourite line from that song is "Rodi me u majsku zoru / Give me birth on at dawn in May" :D
***Full text by W.B. Yeats can be found here.
ETA: If you're confused as to how a St Patrick's mix ended up having French, Serbian and Swedish music and one of the two Irish songs is sung by a Russian folk singer, don't be. It is ~written.